Halloween day is here, and that means the spook is about to be dialled up to 11. However, if you're like me, you're not really a fan of actual horror movies that are meant to put the fear in you. So what then? Don't fret, as we've got you covered with 13 games that fit in the Halloween spirit without being scary.

The games presented here either have a Halloween theming (pumpkins, skeletons, costumes etc.), or they make use of traditional horror monsters (vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc.) in a non-horror way. They're also all available on modern platforms in some way, shape, or form, and most of them are also on sale since they're spooky games during spooky season. Without further ado, let's ghoul into it!

Pumpkin Jack

Let's set the tone with a game that SCREAMS Halloween! Pumpkin Jack is a 3D platformer where you play as the titular Jack, the Mystical Pumpkin Lord, whose head is obviously a watermelon. You'll platform your way through a variety of levels, solving some puzzles along the way, in your Evil quest to defeat the forces of Good.

The game takes inspiration from titles such as MediEvil on the PlayStation, trying and succeeding in calling back to games of that era while sporting a relatively modern coat of paint. You'll have a variety of weapons at your disposal, including a scythe, a shovel, and a shotgun, all typical Halloween and farming tools.

MediEvil

Hey, speak of the skeleton knight! In MediEvil, you play as Sir Daniel Fortesque, a knight who went against the dark armies of the evil sorcerer Zarok... and promptly got killed by the first arrow of war. 100 years later, Zarok cast a curse of undeath as another attempt to take over the kingdom, reviving Dan and offering him a chance to prove himself.

Medievil was released for the original PS1 in 1998. It sees Sir Dan traversing levels and taking down enemies, slowly making his way to Zarok and gaining more power in the process. A remake was released in 2019, and is playable on the PS4 and PS5.

Castlevania

Speaking of classics, it's hard to get more old-school than Castlevania. With titles going as far as the NES, nothing will get you in the spirit of Halloween as much as a series of games about killing vampires. Most of the best games in the series are 2D platformers, either as linear level-based fares or as genre-defining metroidvanias.

As for which one you should play, take your pick! You have the Anniversary Collection containing most of the linear titles from the NES and SNES era, the Advanced Collection consisting of the GBA games and Dracula X, and the Dominus Collection for the DS games and the Haunted Castle. You also have the more modern Lords of Shadows games, which are 3D hack-and-slashers, though non-PC gamers might have a hard time finding those on modern systems.

Oddly enough, Symphony of the Night, which many consider the best game in the franchise, isn't as easy to get. You can get the 360 version on Xbox, and there's a bundle with Rondo of Blood on PlayStation, but the game isn't available on PC and Switch. You can even get it on Android and iOS.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Keeping with the "Bat-themed guy in the night" theme, the Arkham series are the best Batman simulators out there, letting you fight and sneak as The Dark Knight like no other game before. While all the games see you traversing the gothic skylines of Gotham, City and Origins take place in winter, so they're kinda in the wrong festive mood. Of the two remaining mainline titles, Asylum is the better game for the spooky season.

Arkham fans (those that weren't driven mad by the subreddit) might find it odd that I chose Asylum over Knight, since the latter actually takes place on Halloween. However, aside from being told the date, there's really not much going on in the game to show that that's the case. Barely any decorations, none of the goons wear season-themed suits, nothing.

Asylum, on the other hand, fits the season so much better! The enclosed space of the titular location is very gothic, there's a tense section where you have to avoid Killer Croc that would fit in a horror game, and the pièce de résistance: The Scarecrow levels that turn the game into a side-scroller where you have to avoid the gaze of a giant Dr. Crane. Plus, it's one of the few modern games that make you think your system crashed and deleted your save, which is the scariest thing a gamer can experience.

For PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series players, your best bet to get the entire collection, which includes Asylum, City and Knight. Switch players will have to wait until December when the collection will come to Nintendo's handheld.

Lollipop Chainsaw

From the visionary minds of Suda 51, of No More Heroes fame, and filmmaker James Gunn, best known for the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and the first two Scoob-Doo live action movies, comes a game about a cheerleader killing zombies while the head of her boyfriend tags along. We suggest seeing a doctor after that whiplash.

But let's back up a bit. Juliet Starling, cheerleader at San Romero High, was just about to introduce her boyfriend, Nick, to her family when the zombie apocalypse happened. Nick gets bitten by the infected, so, in order to save his life, Juliet decapitates. Luckily for Nick, Juliet is also a zombie hunter, so she can perform a ritual that revives... what's left of him. With her boyfriend's literally tagging along on her belt, Juliet must save the world by bashing zombie heads.

And would you look at that, the game just got a remaster in 2024, so you can enjoy it on modern systems:

Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse

So we've seen a game where you fight zombies, but what about a game where you ARE a zombie? Well, this is where Stubbs the Zombie comes in, a 2005 game that was re-released on modern systems a couple of years back.

The game is set in 1959 in a retro-futuristic city in Pennsylvania, and follows the titular Stubbs, who rises from the dead and decides his purpose in unlife is to consume human brain. You'll be able to transform the inhabitants of the city into zombies, over which you'll then have a small degree of control. 

Carrion

Keeping with the theme of "You're the monster in this monster movie", Carrion sees you taking control of a red mass of... stuff, and then wreaking havoc on a military base. This is a pretty typical set-up for horror movies, where some scientists are studying a mass alien goop only for said mass to start hunting them one by one.

The game features an interconnected map that you'll have to traverse in order to find new abilities and unlock new areas. The game has plenty of pixelated gore, so be weary if that's not your thing, but it's a ton of fun take on the role of a horror monster.

Destroy All Humans!

In the grand scheme of horror monsters, the alien is not quite as popular as the vampire, the zombie, or the werewolf. Even less so if we're talking about an entire alien invasion, as those movies usually tend to veer into action in the third act. Still, campy invasion movies like Mars Attacks are great flicks to put on while you wait for Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster to come and get their candy.

Which brings us to the Destroy All Humans series. In this third-person quadrilogy, you play as Crypto-137 as you try to take over 1950s-and-onward Earth with your otherworldly tech. The games will see you piloting your ship, disguising yourself as a human, killing Earth's native population with your telekinesis, and more. The first two games in the series were recently re-released on modern consoles, with the remaining two sure to follow suit in the future.

The Mummy Demastered

Speaking of cheesy monster movies, anyone remembers "The Mummy"? No, not the Brendan Fraser one. No, not the black and white one either. Yes, the Tom Cruise one, that was really bad! It had a tie-in game made by- No, wait, don't go, I promise this is way better than the movie!

The Mummy Demastered is a tie-in game for the 2017 movie made by WayForward, who are known for the Shantae series. A "demaster" usually refers to a re-imagining of a modern-ish game as if it were made for older hardware. Basically the opposite of a remaster. In this particular case, it's more about "What if this modern movie got a SNES-style tie-in game".

The Mummy Demastered is a metroidvania loosely following the events of the titular movie. You're a military guy who must scour the map in order to defeat the Mummy before she takes over the world. If you die, don't worry, there's a queue of other generic military guys ready to take your place. You have a large arsenal of weapons at your disposal, and a good chunk of enemies to use them on.

Axiom Verge

If mummies aren't your monster of choice, yet you still crave a good metroidvania, we suggest something more... eldritch. Axiom Verge sees you in the role of Trace Eschenbrenner, a scientist who wakes up in a very odd and terrifying world. You must explore your surroundings and find a way back home, all while avoiding and interacting with being beyond human comprehension.

The world Axiom Verge is modelled after the works of H. R. Geiger, who is best known as the creator of the Xenomorph in the Alien movies. Axiom Verge's design leans heavily into cosmic and biomechanical horror for its aesthetic, creating an eerie sense while exploring, so it's slightly spookier than other entries on this list. That said, the game isn't a horror one, and the story it tells is an interesting one, with some unexpected twists.

DOOM

From the heavens, we're going to Hell with the series that pioneered the First Person Shooter genre (if you ignore Wolfenstein 3D). The Doom games see you put in the shoes of the Doomguy/Doomslayer as you hold back a demonic invasion by yourself. Well, yourself and your shelf of increasingly deadly and ridiculous weapons.

Pretty much all the Doom games are worth a look (yes, even Doom 3), and they're all available on every modern system. If you were to play only one, though, we recommend Doom 2016, as it is modernised yet keeps things simpler when compared to its sequel, Doom Eternal.

Luigi's Mansion 3

On the opposite end of the ESRB rating, we have a series of games about Luigi busting ghosts with a device strapped to his back that can suck the poltergeists in. Completely original idea, never seen before anywhere else. You'll have to catch all the ghosts in an enclosed building(s), while also getting stupid rich. Oh, and saving Mario two, I guess.

Unfortunately, only Luigi's Mansion 3 is currently on the Switch, with the second game set to come next year. No word on the first, that one's stuck on the GameCube. Still, Luigi's Mansion 3 can be enjoyed independent of the previous titles, and it introduces a number of fun mechanics to help you be the best ghost-buster in the Mushroom Kingdom!

Costume Quest

Let's do like a mummy wrap things up with a proper Halloween Game. In Costume Quest, you play as a little child who goes trick or treating with their twin. Suddenly, your sibling is kidnapped by monsters, and you must save them by recruiting other kids to your cause and trying out new costumes.

The costumes play a pivotal role, as they allow you gain various abilities during the turn based combat, as well as in the overworld. The games have a Saturday-morning vibe to them, and really capture the spirit of Halloween.

What do you think of our "little" list? What other non-horror games do you play during the spooky season? Let us know in the comments below and happ-... Oh, darn it, "wrap it up"! I should've ended with The Mummy Demastered. Eh, whatever. Happy Halloween from the Out of Games crew!